They arrested an Italian businessman from the Palermo area living in Natal in Brazil's northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, who is accused of having helped a mafia leader hide illegal gains by investing in business ventures in Brazil.

Authorities seized financial assets worth 50 million euros ($55 million) in the raid and property belonging to 17 individuals, all of whom are under investigation, according to a statement from Palermo's financial police.

Twelve companies in the real estate, construction, and restaurant sectors were also seized in Brazil, while other searches at homes and offices were carried out in various regions of Italy as well as Switzerland, it said.

Alleged crimes include complicity in mafia association, extortion, and money laundering.

The investigation showed "substantial mafia-related capital investments in business ventures and companies under Brazilian law, all of which were cleverly shielded through the use of front men and the interposition of shell companies," read the statement.

The individual arrested Monday, who was not named, had been allied since 2000 with an individual whom police described as "one of Palermo's most influential men of honor", a term used to describe trusted operatives within the Sicilian mafia.

Local media named the "man of honor" Giuseppe Calvaruso, who was arrested in 2021 when he returned from Brazil to Palermo for Easter. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in December 2022.

Cosa Nostra is made up of dozens of families, organized into clans geographically.

After investing illegal mafia gains in various business ventures in Italy, including a resort on the western Sicilian coast, Calvaruso's clan expanded internationally, initially working in Brazil with a Rome businessman whom police estimated was paid 830,000 euros ($907,000) in cash before his arrest in 2019.

The alliance with the Italian businessman arrested Tuesday in Natal helped Calvaruso's clan "shift the center of gravity of its interests mainly in Brazil" while still managing criminal activities in Palermo, police said.

The most significant deals included restaurants and "a plan to subdivide vast building areas off the northeastern coast of Brazil", as well as other real estate projects.

Police valued the clan's assets, both international and domestic, at more than 500 million euros.

European judicial agency Eurojust, which coordinates cross-border legal cooperation, said that Swiss authorities also aided in the two-year investigation.

The mafia's activities were uncovered in Switzerland, where on Tuesday the home of an Italian national was searched, Eurojust said.